Critical Thinking, A Necessary Ingredient In Problem Solving
September 12, 2016 | Comments Off on Critical Thinking, A Necessary Ingredient In Problem Solving
The National Council for Excellence in Critical Thinking defines critical thinking as the intellectually disciplined process of actively and skillfully
- conceptualizing, applying, analyzing, synthesizing, and evaluating information
- gathered from observation, experience, reflection, reasoning, or communication,
- as a guide to belief and action.
Every organization must be nimble when solving new and recurring challenges. Everyone must be able to use critical thinking and creative problem solving to take action on these challenges.
In our selfie-obsessed, multi-tasking, twittering world it is easy to let our mental muscles atrophy as our thumbs become more flexible and fast. Business, government, nonprofits, and humans can’t afford the luxury of giving up the characteristic that gave our species its name; we are Homo sapiens, the THINKING people.
Because nobody reads long deep articles anymore, or so I’m told, here are 5, easy to follow critical thinking tips:
5 Critical Thinking Tips:
- Challenge every assumption, belief, fact, idea, suggestion, solution, conventional wisdom, experience.When we face a challenge, our brain is ready to take us down the tried and true path we’ve trod before. This is useful in many situations. But it is potentially disastrous when the challenge is new, nuanced, and nasty. Critical thinking requires us to Stop, Look, and Listen or the oncoming train will mow us down.
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